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“That is good to hear. There’s no better way to go than with a Neutral Reaper.”
Celine nodded, then in an instant, went back to her cheerful self.
“Well, young lady, this is yours. Your father has charged me with its safe keeping until it was time for you to claim it. You can keep it, if you want, or you can give it back to me, and I will make sure it’s absolutely safe. You’ll find it here whenever you need it.”
I looked at the key in my hand. “What does it open?”
“Oh, aren’t you sweet? Follow me.” She placed a “Temporarily Closed” sign on her desk and proceeded to head toward a door at the back.
More stairs, less light, increased feelings of creepiness and “maybe I shouldn’t be here, after all.” I felt out of place. Soon, the perfectly chiseled brick, wood, and marble gave way to rough rock and dirt. We descended into a place that looked like a mine, with long, winding tunnels, and deep abysses opening underneath rock bridges. We walked for what felt like forever. Finally, we entered a huge cavern that looked entirely man-made. There were holes dug inside the walls, and the holes were covered by heavy steel doors. These must have been the vaults. The doors had runes and numbers on them.
“Here it is. This is yours, Miss Mila Morningstar.”
I cringed at the name. Oh, it was going to be a pain to make everyone call me Angelov if I decided to take my mother’s maiden name. Something to worry about later. Way later. After I figured out what to do about Valentine Morningstar, perhaps.
“Open it,” he urged me.
I took a deep breath, stepped up to the steel door, and placed the key in the lock. One, two, three clicks. I pushed the door open and stood like that for a second, in the threshold, almost not wanting to step inside. I didn’t know what to expect. When my eyes fell on the high shelves, filled with neatly stacked gold and silver bars, and precious stones in closed, transparent boxes, I almost fainted. I held onto the door for support, swallowed hard, and blinked a couple of times, just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. I would’ve pinched myself, but I didn’t want to look stupid in front of Morningstar and Celine.
“Well, what are you waiting for? Go in.”
I ignored him. Who said I had to do exactly what he told me? “This is all mine?”
“Yes.”
“But why?” My thoughts ran a hundred miles an hour. This didn’t make any sense. If he hadn’t been forced by my going to Grim Reaper Academy, he would’ve never showed up. He would’ve never come to find me. If it hadn’t been for the prophecy, Valentine Morningstar would have lived a ridiculously long, happy life, without having to see me or talk to me once. These were the facts. I had no proof, and he dodged my questions every time I tried to get any, but I was one hundred percent sure. And he was trying to tell me that, all these years, he was working hard on hoarding all this gold and silver, and all these diamonds, and rubies, and sapphires for me? I turned to look Celine Barnes in the eye. “When was this vault open in my name, Mrs. Barnes?”
My question took her by surprise. She hadn’t expected me to be so direct. She probably thought the treasure would take my mind off all the tiny details that didn’t seem to fit together.
“Err… here,” she walked inside the vault and reached for something that was in a small, fancy black box. “This is your card. It’s attached to a bank account that already has quite a generous balance on it. When you empty it,” she chuckled awkwardly, “... although I don’t think it will happen very soon… Anyway, when it does happen, all you have to do is give me a call, and the bank will sell whatever you choose from here in your name and place the money in your account.” She motioned toward the stacked-up shelves.
I nodded. Should I ask her again? Hm. It was no use. She would just try to distract me like she was doing now. No matter. I wasn’t stupid. Pure gold and sparkly jewels weren’t enough to make me lose my mind. If anything, what was in this vault made me even more aware that my biological father was dangerous. Whatever his agenda was, he was doing everything in his power to manipulate me. Too bad. He didn’t know me at all. He was failing epically. But he doesn’t have to know it. Not yet. If I played my cards right, his desperate attempts to convince me he wanted me on his side could, perhaps, give me an advantage.
I took the card from her and slipped it into my pocket. I turned to Morningstar.
“Can we go now?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t like it? But you haven’t even looked at what’s inside!”
“I don’t have to. I can see it’s a lot. Too much,” I chuckled forcefully. The truth was… all this stuff was making me uncomfortable. I’d been poor all my life. I was still wearing my old clothes from the ninth grade, I didn’t have money to spend on pretty jewelry, and I could barely afford to dye my hair blue every two months. And now, he was giving me all this! What the fuck? No.
He shrugged. “I understand.” He didn’t. But he was losing his patience, I guess. “It’s here if you need it. It will always be here. It’s all yours.”
I stepped out of the vault and waited for Celine to walk out, too. I locked the door three times and gave her the key.
“Hold onto it for me, please?”
“Oh, of course… Miss Morningstar.” My behavior confused her to no end.
I let out a sigh, placed my hands in the back pockets of my tattered jeans, and looked around. “So, all the students at the Academy have vaults here?”
“Yes,” Celine hurried to answer me. “This is one of the many rooms dedicated to the Heirs. And Heiresses. The family vaults are much bigger and deeper underground.”
“Fascinating.”
Morningstar tapped his scythe impatiently. “Mila, I have one more thing to give you.” He pulled out a tiny bell out of the inside pocket of his long, black cloak, and dropped it into my open palm.
“What is this?”
